Stanford University
Pullman Strike
Learners explore the Pullman Strike. In this U.S. history lesson, students view a PowerPoint about the Pullman Strike of 1894. Learners discuss how this strike divided our nation. Students work with a group to analyze a...
Curated OER
History Matters: Camella Teoli Testifies About the 1912 Lawrence Textile Strike
Read the gripping testimony of an immigrant girl who testified before a U.S. Congressional committee detailing the conditons in the textile mill in which she worked. Because of these unsafe working conditions, the textile workers...
Curated OER
History Matters: Ideas in Conflict: Opposing Views of the Cripple Creek Strike
The violent strike in Cripple Creek, Colorado, pitted the Western Federation of Miners against the mine owners. Read these statements by the two organizations giving their views of what happened in that conflict.
Curated OER
History Matters: Joe Rudiak Remembers the 1919 Strike
Read an interview with a former steelworker, who recalls the Great Steel Strike of 1919 when he was a young boy. Find out the ramifications for his family because his father was a union man who supported the strike. An audio of the...
Curated OER
History Matters: "I Started Filling Rifles"
You can listen to or read an interview with a woman who was a strike supporter during the Colorado Coal strike. In this interview she recalls how she helped save women and children during the Ludlow Massacre in April, 1914.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: America in Class: America in the 1920s: Prosperity: Labor Strike
The National Humanities Center presents collections of primary resources compatible with the Common Core State Standards - historical documents, literary texts, and works of art - thematically organized with notes and discussion...
University of Washington
Pacific Northwest Labor and Civil Rights Projects: Seattle General Strike
A comprehensive look at the Seattle General Strike, which began in February, 1919. Here you will find an explanation of why the strike began, an interactive map of the location of important events, oral histories, contemporary newspaper...
![Bureau of Labor Statistics: Compensation From Before Wwi Through Great Depression [Pdf] Handout](https://d15y2dacu3jp90.cloudfront.net/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/FPO-knovation.png "Bureau of Labor Statistics: Compensation From Before Wwi Through Great Depression [Pdf] Handout")
US Department of Labor
Bureau of Labor Statistics: Compensation From Before Wwi Through Great Depression [Pdf]
This interesting article from the Bureau of Labor Statistics discusses how working conditions and low pay prior to World War I led to the increase in union membership. Read how the government viewed labor and labor unions during World...
University of Missouri
Famous Trials: Western Federation of Miners
A good review of the Western Federation of Miners and its actions in Colorado in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Find out why the organization was seen to have socialist leanings.
Other
Haymarket Trial: August Spies, Address to the Court
Site presents the statement given by August Spies, who was convicted and hanged for his role in the Haymarket Square riot.
Chicago History Museum
Chicago Historical Society: The Dramas of Haymarket
The Chicago Historical Society presents extensive information about the 1886 bombing at Haymarket Square that helped change the course of the labor movement. Read about the bombing, arrests, trial, executions, and other events that...
Other
Illinois State Museum: The American Railway Union
Excerpt from U.S. Strike Commission Report. Site also provides focus questions at the bottom.
Other
I Boston: Boston Police Strike of 1919
The year 1919 was a year of strikes all across America. Read about the Boston police force's attempts to unionize in order to improve wages and working conditions. The disastrous results were attributed partly to ethnic prejudice, partly...
University of Missouri
Famous Trials: The Haymarket Trial
"Attention Workingmen! Mass Meeting Tonight, at 7:30." This pamphlet was distributed on May 4, 1886. Chicago had been simmering with labor disputes which culminated in a riot at Haymarket Square where eight officers were killed. Use this...
PBS
Pbs American Experience: Chicago: Anarchists and the Haymarket Square Incident
From PBS' American Experience's series on Chicago, this article describes what led up to the Haymarket Square riot in May 1886. It details who was involved, what happened on May 4, 1886, and rigged jury who decided the fate of men...
Other
Colorado Coal Field War Project: Ludlow Massacre [Pdf]
A very detailed lesson plan that stretches over nine lessons that develop the students' understanding of why the Ludlow Massacre occurred and the ramifications of it. [pdf]
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Houghton Mifflin Company: Teacher's Guide for Bread and Roses, Too
Katherine Paterson writes historical fiction for middle school aged students. This book on the Bread and Roses strike includes good factual information about the strike woven into a personal story. This teacher's guide is a handy...
Other
Mass Moments: January 12, 1912: Bread and Roses Strike Begins
The Bread and Roses Strike was given a very slight chance of accomplishing anything for women who worked in poor conditions in the textile mills in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See how wrong the mill owners and even the leaders of the...
Library of Congress
Loc: Chicago Anarchists on Trial: Evidence From the Haymarket Affair, 1886 1887
This lesson from the Library of Congress examines the Haymarket Square riot and resulting trial from many different perspectives. Read about the position the anarchists took, as well as the reactions of the police. Questions to encourage...
Other
Wpt: The Sit Down Strike of 1937
A lengthy look at the sit-down strike called against General Motors factories first in Flint, Michigan, and then across the country. Find out about how the UAW organized the strike, how long it lasted, and what the consequences were for...
University of Virginia
Miller Center at Uva: u.s. Presidents: Harry S. Truman: Domestic Affairs
A broad look at the Truman presidency domestically including the labor problems he encountered, his Fair Deal, the instransigence of the Republican Party, and McCarthyism.
Harry S. Truman Library and Museum
Truman Library: Telegram: Injunction in the Copper Industry Strike
Beset by labor unrest and strikes after World War II, President Truman sent a telegram to the Attorney General advising him to step into the dispute between copper companies and labor unions to avert strikes and lock outs. Read the...
Other
Nysed: The Great Railroad Strike of 1877
This very complete lesson plan from the New York State Library uses newspaper accounts to give a "you are there" feeling to the discussion of the Railroad Strike of 1877. Included are a history of the strike, student activities,...